Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este
Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este
Buy-in
$2,300
Prize Pool
$941,480
Entries
422
Level
27
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
10,000
Day 3 Concludes with Final Table Set; Komaromi Leading Big
Level 24
: 15,000/30,000, 3,000 ante
Day 3 is in the books here in Punta del Este, Uruguay for the 2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Main Event and just eight players remain in contention for the title. Leading the way -- and in a big way -- is Alex Komaromi with 2.92 million in chips.
Komaromi began the day with 304,000 in chips, but made solid work of the day and battled his way to nearly ten times that amount. Komaromi eliminated several players on the day en route to finishing at the top of the pack. He even sent the last player to go out the door -- Oded Minond in ninth place -- in order to set the final table.
As you can see on the seating chart below, Komaromi and Engelberth Varela are the only two players over a million in chips and Komaromi has a very sizable lead over Varela. It's surely going to tough for anyone to overtake Komaromi if he can stay on top of things like he did here on Day 3, but this is poker and anything can happen. Komalomi is also the only Uruguayan to make the final table and it will be a great story if he can ride this chip lead out to a victory in his home country. Joining him will be four Brazilians, one Peruvian, one Argentinian and one Venezuelan.
Final Table Seating Assignments and Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rafael Monteiro | Brazil | 810,000 |
| 2 | Felipe Pasini | Brazil | 345,000 |
| 3 | Nelson Trad Neto | Brazil | 405,000 |
| 4 | Carlos Watanabe | Peru | 430,000 |
| 5 | Alex Komaromi | Uruguay | 2,920,000 |
| 6 | Claudio Piedrabuena | Argentina | 490,000 |
| 7 | Fernando Araujo | Brazil | 860,000 |
| 8 | Engelberth Varela | Venezuela | 1,840,000 |
Play for the final table resumes tomorrow at 12:00 PM local time after a nice, early finish to the day today. PokerNews will be on hand for all of the live coverage from the final table as we move to crowning a brand new LAPT champion here in Punta del Este. First place is nearly $250,000 and you'll have to come right back here to find out who's going to be the man walking away with the title. For now we'll leave you with PokerNews' Lynn Gilmartin and Brazilian PokerStars Blogger Sergio Prado discussing today's top stories on PokerStars.tv. See you tomorrow.
Oded Minond Eliminated in 9th Place ($12,700)
Action folded to the hijack seat and there sat Alex Komaromi. He raised to 65,000 to open up the action. Play then folded to Oded Minond on the button and he reraised all in for 445,000. Komaromi tanked for a bit and then made the call.
Komaromi: 
Minond: 
Minond was all in and at risk holding two tens to the two Broadway overcards for Komalomi. The flop came down 
and, so far, everything was good for Minond. That was until the dealer dealt the turn.
Fourth street brought the 
and put Minond behind and in desperate need of help on the river. He was unable to find it though when the 
fell.
With the elimination of Minond in ninth place for $12,700, the official final table here at the 2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este has been set. We'll have a complete recap coming for you shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,920,000 | 2,616,000 |
|
Busted |
Watanabe Wants Chips
Since coming back from the short break, Carlos Watanabe has moved in three times and picked up the chips preflop. He's not back over 400,000 and has nearly doubled his stack just by moving all in preflop.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
435,000 | 190,000 |
Level: 24
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 3,000
Updated Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,315,000 | 395,000 |
|
1,795,000 | 295,000 |
|
940,000 | -60,000 |
|
760,000 | -130,000 |
|
550,000 | -150,000 |
|
|
540,000 | -30,000 |
|
490,000 | -230,000 |
|
340,000 | -155,000 |
|
|
245,000 |
Break Time
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
The players are on a short break. See you back in a few minutes.
Watanabe Three-Bets and Folds
Nelson Trad Neto raised to 52,000 from early position and then Carlos Watanabe reraised to 156,000 from middle position. Engelberth Varela moved all in from the small blind and action folded back to Watanabe. He thought about it for a few minutes, but then folded his hand, dropping even shorter.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
245,000 | -185,000 |
A Flop and a Turn
From under the gun, Rafael Monteiro raised to 52,000. Engelberth Varela made the call from the big blind and a rare flop was set to be seen.
The flop came down 
and both players checked, which meant that an even rarer turn was about to be witnessed.
The turn was the 
and Varela fired 73,000. Monteiro folded and Varela won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,500,000 | 120,000 |
|
|
890,000 | 60,000 |
Not Much Going On
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
The action at the 'unofficial' final table has been mimimal, if even that. Just one standard raise has been enough to take down nearly every pot, and that's if the table doesn't fold around to the big blind and give him a walk. Still, it's only a matter of time before two big hands collide. Even if the players don't seem to want to go out and "win" the title.